Bringing Postgraduate Research to Life: The 3rd Annual Lyell PGR Symposium
On Friday, 29th May 2026, the Postgraduate Centre at Heriot-Watt University came alive with the energy of the Lyell Centre PGR Symposium, an event that has become a cornerstone of the postgraduate calendar at the Lyell Centre for Earth and Marine Sciences and Technology.
As part of this year's organising committee, I, together with Skye Tisdell, Kirsty Woodcock, and Moritz Eichert, helped bring together postgraduate researchers, academic supervisors, and staff from across the Lyell Centre, alongside guests from the wider Heriot-Watt Edinburgh Campus, for a day of science, debate, and community. Working closely, we coordinated everything from venue and programme selection to inviting panellists and judges, and managing catering logistics to ensure the day ran smoothly.
What Made the Day
The programme was packed and wide-ranging, featuring student oral presentations, panel discussions, poster sessions, vlogs, and awards for outstanding works.
Student plenary presentations showcased the breadth of research across the Lyell Centre’s two groups, the GeoEnergy Research Group and the Earth and Marine Science Group, with the programme carefully structured to alternate between them. Marine-focused talks covered topics such as microbial colonisation of marine microplastics, ocean biogeochemistry, pelagic calcifiers, and the environmental impacts of Nephrops trawling.
These were interspersed with GeoEnergy research on carbon storage systems, hydrogen-rock interactions, geothermal resource potential, and gas leakage from legacy wells. Additional presentations on offshore tidal energy and tsunamigenic landslides highlighted the Centre’s interdisciplinary strength and real-world impact.
The afternoon panel discussion on "Career Pathways: Industry, Academia, or Government?" was a standout moment. Hearing candid perspectives from those who have navigated life beyond the PhD, across industry, academia, and government, sparked conversations that continued long after the session ended.
After a great lunch, a poster session followed, giving PGRs the chance to present their work one-to-one and engage in the kind of focused, in-depth conversations that a lecture theatre rarely allows. From geothermal systems to marine biogeochemistry, the posters captured the full diversity of research underway at the Lyell Centre and drew a steady stream of curious visitors throughout the afternoon.
Rounding off the formal programme was a creative highlight from the MSc student vlogs: short, personal video pieces that brought a fresh, human dimension to the day and showcased the talent emerging from the Centre's master's programmes.
Events like this matter. They give early-career researchers the space to communicate their work, connect across disciplines, and see how their individual projects contribute to the Lyell Centre's broader mission: finding sustainable solutions to the grand challenges facing our planet.
Thank you to everyone who presented, attended, and helped make the day a success. Here's to the 4th.
Ovye Musah Yohanna, PhD Researcher at The Lyell Centre